If you really don’t think we should borrow money to build a new fire hall, then by all means fill out your Alternative Approval Process form and mail it in. If, on the other hand, you are concerned with the process and the switch to AAP, then before you fill out your form in protest, please consider this: Doing so will make the Fire Department and the community at large pay. Rejecting the project through the AAP will put off the start date of the project for three to four months, add several thousand dollars to the budget to pay for a referendum, negatively impact the department morale, and probably raise the construction costs of the project.
Yes, the electoral assent process is messed up, and we’re just as disappointed with the switch as anyone. No members of HIFR had any clue that this was happening until days after the cancellation when a community member posted on the Internet.
If you want to voice your displeasure over the process switch, please contact your newly re-elected director, Bruce Jolliffe, and tell him how you feel. Before filling out the AAP form just to protest the process, though, please consider the costs – both financial and human.